Sun 17 Aug 2014
Reviewed by Marvin Lachman: R. AUSTIN FREEMAN – The Eye of Osiris.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[9] Comments
by Marv Lachman
R. AUSTIN FREEMAN – The Eye of Osiris. Hodder & Stoughton, UK, hardcover, 1911. First US edition: Dodd Mead, hardcover, 1912. Reprinted many times, including Carroll & Graf, paperback, 1986. Available online here.
Carroll & Graf has logically followed its publication of R. Austin Freeman’s first Dr. Thorndyke novel, The Red Thumb Mark, with the second in that series, The Eye of Osiris. (There is an as yet unreprinted collection of short stories, John Thorndyke’s Cases, which is sandwiched in the Freeman chronology by these novels.)
In Osiris the detective’s Watson (a doctor named Jarvis) is relegated to the sidelines, and another young-doctor-in-love narrates. We get such wonderful corny passages as “Reverently I folded her in my arms, gathered her to the heart that worshiped her utterly. Henceforth no sorrows could hurt us, no misfortune vex, for we should walk hand in hand on our earthly pilgrimage and find the way all too short,” and “…the light of her love went with me and turned the dull street into a path of glory.”
Not to worry. These sections of purple prose do not detract (they actually provide comic relief) from a well-plotted mystery about the disappearance, in the heart of London, of a noted Egyptologist. Freeman combines a considerable narrative gift with detailed knowledge of medicine (skeleton bones keep popping up all over England) and many aspects of the law.
There are two legal proceedings which are described with delicious satire. I found myself laughing aloud, though this is not the reaction I expected in approaching R Austin Freeman. The solution is ingenious, though it helps if you’ve been to medical school if you want to compete with Dr. Thorndyke in arriving at it.
Unfortunately, the denouement is dragged out too long, contributing to this book being a whopping 344 pages.
August 17th, 2014 at 5:17 pm
I always thought Chandler was right about Freeman being the best dull writer ever. Despite their flaws I hold the Thorndyke books on the same shelf as Doyle and Chesterton and always think of Holmes, Throndyke, and Father Brown, and like the first Holmes he contributed greatly to actual police investigations.
The green evidence box CSI’s carry today is modeled on the one carried by Sir Bernard Spilsbury, who copied his from Thorndyke’s green carpetbag carrying his forensic tools.
Whether they know it or not, every forensic tec from Dr. Coffee to Kay Scarpeta, from Bones to Abby on NCIS, walk in Thorndyke and Freeman’s shadow since unlike Holmes, Freeman’s science is always meticulously real.
And leisurely as they are, old fashioned as they can be, I find Thorndyke’s world every bit as nostalgic as Holmes perpetual London 1895. Granted Doyle is the more gifted storyteller and Holmes the more interesting character, but Thorndyke retains his appeal.
August 17th, 2014 at 5:46 pm
The “best dull writer ever” according to Chandler was not R. Austin Freeman but Freeman Wills Crofts – the two often get confused, and the existence of a First Freeman makes the matter worse. But I digress. Chandler praised our Freeman as a “wonderful performer” and had many other nice things to say about him and his writing skills(the passage in question can be found here.
I don’t think Freeman’s writing is “corny” and makes for “comic relief”. It’s admittedly very Victorian and Romantic (in the original meaning of the word) but it fits in with the tone of the story and the era when it takes place. I’ve always been of Van Dine’s opinion that love and detection shouldn’t mix, but The Eye of Osiris is a wonderful exception.
August 17th, 2014 at 5:52 pm
I agree with the Good Things everybody is saying about “The Eye of Osiris”. It’s a terrific read – probably Freeman’s best novel.
I didn’t know about the real world influence Freeman had on forensics, till reading David’s comment. Thank you!
Scientific Detective Stories are hugely popular today, both in print and on TV. But the public as a whole has little knowledge that so many classic scientific detective tales were published over the last 100 years. Its a huge body of work. Mystery specialists, like the people who write here at MYSTERY*FILE, know about these tales. But the public as a whole seems clueless. They have no idea what a mountain of good reading is available out there.
August 18th, 2014 at 2:26 pm
Xavier,
Thanks, I didn’t have my Chandler handy, and forgot his appreciation of Crofts.
Mike,
Thorndyke may be the only fictional detective who came before his ‘model’. Sir Bernard Spildsbury ‘was’ Thorndyke, handsome, brilliant, analytical, above human concerns, and both doctor and barrister. I find it hard to believe that no one ever pointed out the similarities to Spilsbury, and suspect he may have modeled his career on Thorndyke. If not it is one of the most remarkable cases of life imitating art I know of.
Thorndyke was the first detective in fiction, and likely in life, to explore the importance of forensic evidence in a realistic and documented way. Holmes certainly used observation of minutiae like tobacco and dirt, but his science is haphazard and often fictional. Thorndyke is often ahead of the curve, the police imitating his science and style of investigation far more than Holmes flashes of briliance.
Holmes certainly inspired modern investigation, but it is Thorndyke who first used envelopes to store and document evidence, white gloves, chemicals to makes tests in the field, tweezers, scissors, and other tools, and the entire concept of the chain of evidence and non contamination of evidence. Many of Holmes cases would not have held up in court — all of Thorndyke’s would have been convictions.
Since Spilsbury was the great model for modern forensic science and Thorndyke his fictional doppleganger then all modern CSI’s walk in his fictional shadow whether they know it or not.
And Thorndyke helped save an innocent man in one of the most important cases of the twentieth century when Raymond Schindler took a cue from THE RED THUMB MARK and proved a bloody fingerprint on a silk screen at the scene of the Sir Harry Oakes murder in the Bahamas had been forged by two Miami policemen hired by the Duke of Windsor and his friends to make sure the blame fell on Oakes son in law.
I agree they are wonderful tales, and sadly forgotten. I have seven volumes in e-book form covering all the Thorndyke novels and tales, and appreciate them more every time I dip into them. I find them often suspenseful and always interesting, and Freeman’s other great invention, the inverted tale, is still in use today.
August 20th, 2014 at 7:44 pm
Thanks for the review. I have downloaded a copy of the novel from Project Gutenberg and will read it.
August 21st, 2014 at 3:12 pm
Monte
Thanks for reminding me to look for an online version. I’ve added the Gutenberg link to the book info at the top of the review.
August 21st, 2014 at 10:38 am
Egyptology themes in crime fiction have become popular through the years (e.g. Elizabeth Peters et al.), but this may be one of the earliest adult mystery novels to feature the subject. I’ve come across adventure/mystery books on an Egypt theme for boys such as “Wizard of Oz” author Frank Baum’s “The Boy Fortune Hunters” from 1908, but nothing yet for adults earlier than 1911.
August 21st, 2014 at 3:15 pm
BV
That’s an interesting aspect to THE EYE OF OSIRIS that had never occurred to me. It’s hard to imagine that this is the first adult mystery dealing with Egyptology, but it could be…!
July 3rd, 2021 at 11:06 am
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